The Hottest Auburn Blog on The Net

3.07.2009

It'll be Auburn-Vanderbilt for the Big One

Hey everyone. The Vanderbilt Commodores have advanced to the SEC Tournament final, so they'll face Auburn tomorrow night for The Tournament Hardware.

The game begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.

Before you get too excited: Vanderbilt has won 14 consecutive games against Auburn.

Here are some comments Auburn had to say about various topics.

ALLI SMALLEY, Auburn guardOn playing Vanderbilt: ``They're so disciplined. They'll keep running their offense until they get the shot they want. That's hard on a defense."

On if Vanderbilt's streak will make a difference Sunday: "Maybe in a motivating way. Nobody here has beaten them -- even the seniors."

SHERELL HOBBS, Auburn forwardOn first-half problems against Tennessee: "We let the crowd into it. We weren't hitting on all cylinders. It all went back to offensive rebounding."

VAN CHANCELLOR, LSU head coachOn the 13 offensive fouls called: ``I watched that Tennessee-Auburn game and I'm not saying it was bad, but the officials have grown in love with the offensive foul. If I was paying good money to watch a game, I would want to see a little offense. All the games I have seen today -- offensive fouls? Lord."

MELANIE BALCOMB, Vanderbilt coachOn playing Auburn: "We just have to play tremendous team defense. Bonner is very, very good as well all know, but their supporting cast is very good, too. You can't just stop her. It comes down to who wants it most."

Auburn def. Tennessee, 78-58 (women)

Welcome to Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Ark., for the SEC Tournament semifinal game between your Auburn Tigers and the Tennessee Lady Vols.

FINALAuburn 78, Tennessee 58.

THIRD TO @ 7:19, 2nd halfAuburn leads, 60-45. Auburn is in complete control now. I've never seen anything like it. We're up to 12 offensive fouls now. I can't believe the calls. Over and over and over. It's making a mess of a really intriguing basketball game.

SECOND TO @ 10:26, 2nd halfAuburn leads, 51-41. The Tigers look like a different team. They're rebounding with more fervor and it seems that Tennessee is slowing down a bit. The Lady Vols are not keeping pace in transition.

FIRST TO @ 15:32, 2nd halfAuburn leads, 39-33. The Tigers have outscored Tennessee 13-2 so far this half. That's more than half what Auburn accomplished during the first 20 minutes of the game. If Smalley and Hobbs get on track -- each player has hit a bucket this half -- Auburn will be tough to stop.

HALFTIME STATSShootingAUB -- 9-25 36%TEN -- 14-34 41%

3 ShootingAUB -- 2-5 40%TEN -- 0-5 00%

FT ShootingAUB -- 6-7 86%TEN -- 3-3 100%

ReboundingAUB -- 16 (7o, 9d)TEN -- 20 (10o, 10d)

HALFTIMETennessee leads, 31-26.

THIRD TO @ 3:13, 1stTennessee leads, 27-22. Both teams are playing excellent defense. Tennessee has benefited from some good luck here lately. A blocked shot landed in Alex Fuller's hand for a freebie just a moment ago. Auburn hasn't accomplished anything meaningful on offense in several minutes. The Lady Vols are highly aggressive with their man defense right now.

SECOND TO @ 9:57, 1stAuburn leads, 16-15. Auburn is out in transition now. Nell Fortner subbed out Boddie for ReRe Hobbs, which was a curious call. Maybe that's a defensive change? This is a fun game to watch. These teams are really going at it.

FIRST TO @ 15:54, 1stTennessee leads, 8-7. The Lady Vols' outstanding freshman center, Kelley Cain, is out with a knee injury. Auburn hasn't yet had many opportunities to get out in transition. When those opportunities arise, you know the Tigers will be sprinting. This is UT's third game in three days.

"The way we're playing right now, I don't think that after this win against LSU, with us being the only team to beat LSU and Tennessee, the two top teams in our league, I don't think you can ignore that. I don't know whatthey look at. You can look at numbers all you want, but the numbers will not dictate how well our team is playing right now. I'm not one to toot my own horn, but I've got to for these guys. We've won eight out of nine and to say that we're not even in the mix is a slap in the face of our guys and the SEC in my opinion. This is a good league. Is it as strong as it has been in past years? Maybe not, but it's not one that's far below some of these other ones."

The Tigers now are 21-10 (10-6 in the SEC) and enter the league tournament as the West No. 2 seed. They'll play the winner of the Arkansas-Florida first-round game.

Auburn def. Ole Miss (women/SEC Tournament)

Hey everyone. We're LIVE from Alltel Arena in Little Rock, Ark., where your Auburn Tigers are playing Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament.

The team was honored before the game as SEC Champions. They got a trophy and everything.

FINALAuburn 71, Ole Miss 65. The team's next game comes tomorrow (5:30 p.m. CST) against either Tennessee or Florida.

@ :19, 2nd halfAuburn leads, 70-65. Bonner just stepped to the line and hit a pair of important free throws. Ole Miss has seized command of this game, but the surge is coming a bit too late.

FOURTH TO @ 3:42, 2nd halfAuburn leads, 64-54. The Tigers' starters are still in. It's been an unusual day for Auburn. Smalley is 2-of-9 from the perimeter. Hobbs is 1-of-9 overall. Bonner and Boddie have taken on larger-than-normal scoring responsibilities and that hasn't been a problem. Against a better opponent, though, this could have been a terminal situation.

THIRD TO @ 11:37, 2nd halfAuburn leads, 53-40. Nell Fortner now appears ready to rest her starters. Boddie is out. The Tigers are just messing around now. Seems like the margin is larger than 13, but Ole Miss has taken advantage of some recent sloppiness.

BONNER IN THE BOOKSWith a mid-range jumper moments ago, Bonner now is Auburn's all-time leading scorer. As of this moment, she has 2,070 points.

FIRST TO @ 17:00, 2nd halfAuburn leads, 42-29. The Tigers are on a 7-0 run to open the second half. Auburn is pushing the tempo, as they probably should have been doing all along, and their opponent can't keep up.

HALFTIME NUMBERSShootingAUB -- 13-31 42%OLE -- 11-29 38%

3 ShootingAUB -- 3-9 33%OLE -- 1-6 17%

FT ShootingAUB -- 6-14 43%OLE -- 6-10 60%

ReboundingAUB -- 19 (7o, 12d)OLE -- 19 (6o, 13d)

Fast Break PointsAUB -- 9OLE -- 0

Here is your Auburn contingent cheering late in the first half.

HALFTIMEAuburn 35, Ole Miss 29.

FOURTH TO @ 3:59, 1st halfAuburn leads, 27-25. It's been a funky strech here lately. DeWanna Bonner appears reborn as a mid-range jump shooter. That's not her game. On the other end, UM's big center, Shawn Goff, is going off. She's currently 6-for-8 with 17 points. I've told you this before -- Auburn's big weakness is that it cannot guard powerful centers. This has been proven time and again.

THIRD TO @ 7:48, 1st halfAuburn leads, 23-15. The Tigers want Smalley to be the sharpshooter, but it's just not happening. She's now 2-for-6 from the perimeter. She airballed the last shot. The two before that were way off.

SECOND TO @ 11:51, 1st halfAuburn leads, 16-8. The Tigers still are pushing the tempo. I've been impressed with how aggressive Ole Miss has been with their offensive rebounding. They're getting a lot of second shots. They'll start falling at some point.

FIRST TO @ 15:37, 1st halfAuburn leads, 10-4. The Tigers have a massive advantage here in terms of transition. Boddie is so thoughtful and quick with the ball in transition. UM's Kayla Melson, a Sidney Lanier High grad, can stay with Boddie. It doesn't appear that her teammates can handle their assignments in transition. Look for Auburn to crank this one to 11. (Spinal Tap reference)

OLE MISS TO @ 17:32, 1st halfAuburn leads, 10-2. The Tigers have scored on four consecutive possessions. They've been very easy baskets, too.

3.05.2009

David Oku seeing orange

Hey everyone. Figured I should go ahead and create a thread for this since it's been discussed several times in comments.

Volquest.com, the Tennessee flavor of Rivals.com, reports that TB David Oku of the midwest* has signed a binding LOI with Tennessee. Auburn had been working to sign the speedy tailback since late December.

His finalists were UT, Auburn, Ole Miss and Syracuse.

ps: When in Little Rock and aiming for low-key shenanigans, I highly suggest President Clinton Ave. Seriously. It's fun.

*Oku played at Carl Albert High in suburban Oklahoma City last fall, but now attends a high school in Lincoln, Neb.

Tickets going fast in Auburn

Could it be? Are the Auburn men finally gaining relevance in their home area?

School officials report that less than 1,000 tickets remain for the Tigers' game against LSU on Saturday. Coach Jeff Lebo, pictured at left, has his team 20-10 overall and 9-6 against Southeastern Conference teams.

That's enough to generate interest at home. The enthusiasm appears to end there.

ESPN.com's NCAA Tournament analyst, Joe Lunardi, doesn't consider Auburn a serious candidate for participation in college basketball's premier event. Not one of the last four teams out. Not one of the last four team in. Not even on the radar.

"I'm not seriously looking at Auburn," he said during an ESPN conference call.

So it goes. Early-season losses to Mercer and Northern Iowa are unseemly.

Trip review

Here are a few pics from the trip over.

This is my GPS unit in a very confused state. The new stretch of US 78 that runs close to Birmingham clearly hasn't made its way to the Sony GPS maps just yet.

Here we are parked in front of out fine lunch spot in West Memphis, Ark. Nobody became sick. I consider that a stroke of luck. A few people asked why we didn't hit a BBQ joint. We didn't have time to go wandering.

I'll be covering the Alabama-Tennessee women's game tonight as a service to the Advertiser's Tide- and Vol-tinged fans. Your top-seeded Auburn Tigers begin play Friday, thirty minutes after noon CST.

BASEBALL UPDATE: Auburn beat Davidson 14-2 on Wednesday night, hitting three home runs in the process. The Tigers, now 5-4, have hit 20 homers in their nine games this season. A four-game series against Brown University begins Friday.

3.04.2009

Wednesday update

Hey everyone. Thanks to the everyone for commenting like mad in last night's thread and making me laugh. And cringe. The HABOTN certainly has the most creative and open people around. Good golly.

ROCKIN' AND ROLLIN': As first reported here yesterday, the HABOTN is taking its show on the road beginning Thursday. We'll trek to Little Rock, Ark., for the SEC Women's Tournament and will arrive in time to watch Tennessee likely destroy (possibly just beat) Alabama at 6:30 p.m.

The top-seeded Tigers open play Friday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. against either Ole Miss or Arkansas. You know we'll be blogging that event with unusual fervor.

OWNAGE: As first reported here Wednesday night, the Auburn men defeated the Crimson Tide by four points. That represents a season sweep (second time in three years) and officially makes Auburn a hottest SEC team. The Tigers (20-10, 9-6) now have won seven of their last eight games.

Is that enough to get into the NCAAs?

Probably not. If you read PMarsh's (free) blog earlier today, you'll see that at least one person believes Auburn should be dancing in two weeks. I disagree. The team has been impressive lately, sure, but there is work to be done.

3.03.2009

Reaction from Tuscaloosa

COACH JEFF LEBOOn the drama: ``We had a lot riding on this game. The tradition there, in terms of SEC winning seasons, isn't there. Coming from behind, for (the players), that was the most exciting way to do it. I've never seen them so happy after a game."

On the win: "I liked our toughness. We showed some toughness. We've shown some grit. Against an Alabama team that has been playing very very well. We had to overcome a lot. They made some big shots. We kept making play after play after play."

On possible reasons for first-half problems: "It's been an emotional 40 days. Sometimes that takes a little bit out of you when you have so much riding on each game."

COACH PHILIP PEARSONOn the final Auburn possession ... when Alabama let the clock run: ``They had been making their foul shots. They had some pretty good FT shooters on the floor. I thought we could get a stop and catch them in a little bit of a scramble situation. It didn't work out, obviously."

Auburn def. Alabama, 77-73.

Welcome to Coleman Coliseum, where your Auburn Tigers are playing the Tiders from U. Alabama.

FINALAuburn 77, Alabama 73.

FOURTH TO @ 3:50, 2nd halfAuburn leads, 69-63. I told you all earlier -- defense was going to tell the tale. Auburn has upped the man-to-man pressure and Alabama can't get much going inside. The Tigers are shooting 62 percent, too, which has something to do with this rally as well.

THIRD TO @ 7:40, 2nd halfAlabama leads, 59-58. Well, the Tigers are on a big surge now. Alabama is lost on offense. Not sure what happened there. Why isn't Alabama going inside anymore? If that doesn't change, Auburn will win this game.

SECOND TO @ 11:36, 2nd halfAlabama leads, 54-48. Auburn is being more thoughtful with its shot selection now and it's having some consistent offensive success. Alabama is in a lull. Does Alabama have a leader who can turn this thing around? We shall see.

FIRST TO @ 15:38, 2nd halfAlabama leads, 48-37. Auburn has gone to a zone, but it hasn't had much of an effect on the Tide. They're still shooting quite well. Auburn's offense seems more refined so far this half, but defense is going to be the second-half issue.

HALFTIMEAlabama leads, 39-29.

FOURTH TO @ 3:53, 1st halfAlabama leads, 36-25. The Tide is on a 14-2 run with a shooter on the line. They're still going inside, which is smart. Auburn doesn't have the size to bang with those guys. Auburn has been forced to use Francis Aihe in there because the top guys all have too many fouls. Aihe?

THIRD TO @ 7:27, 1st halfAlabama leads, 22-20. Now it has become a game of transition, which probably favors Auburn. I don't expect it to last. Auburn is shooting very poorly. Nobody seems to have the touch. Barrett has shown some signs of life.

SECOND TO @ 11:38, 1st halfAlabama leads, 15-14. The Tide is being smart -- working the ball inside against the undersized Tigers. Brendon Knox looked like a stud for a second there. He had a dunk, a block and a steal in his first 30 seconds. Then he picked up two fouls and ... bye bye.

FIRST TO @ 15:46, 1st halfAuburn leads, 10-9. Tay Waller already has a pair of treys. Teams are just feelin' each other out. I laughed at one of the signs in the student section: "Thirty-six to almost three." Clever.

On the road ... for the first time

Hey everyone. Though I haven't been very active on the HABOTN today, we've been hard at work behind the scenes. I have good news to report.

I now believe the HABOTN (and the Advertiser) will be attending the SEC Women's Tournament in Little Rock later this week. Big ups to my sports editor, Brad Zimanek, for helping right a wrong. Auburn is an outstanding team and deserves to be covered. Looks like they'll get proper coverage here.

So that's good.

As for our immediate future, we'll be on the scene in Tuscaloosa around 7 p.m. this evening. Please join us for conversation and frequent live updates from Coleman Coliseum, where your male Auburn Tigers play the males from U. Alabama.

3.02.2009

Some legit football news ... sort of.

Never mind that it was snowing in Auburn yesterday and basketball season is in full swing.

We've got football news.

Defensive end Antonio Coleman has been named to the Lombardi Award Watch List for the 2009 season. Yep, the one that starts six months from now. The Rotary Club of Houston generated this list based on returning players who populated All-American or All-Conference lists.

Anyway, Coleman's junior season included 46 tackles, a team-high six sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss. He was named the SEC's Defensive Lineman of the Week following Auburn's 14-12 victory over Tennessee on Sept. 27.

Some basketball chatter

Hey everyone. Since our earlier thread turned into T.M.I. Fest, I have decided to open this thread to discuss the upcoming Auburn-Alabama men's game.

That game will be contested Tuesday night at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

The Head Coach and The Freshman Guard spoke with the HABOTN earlier today about the upcoming showdown.GUARD FRANKIE SULLIVAN•On the team's dramatic mid-season improvement: "It's all mental. We had the talent. We just needed to learn to play together and be tough in games. Falling behind doesn't mean you have to lose."

•On shooting guard Tay Waller: "There's a lot to learn from him, but probably not his shot. He has a very awkward shot. It's almost like he's shooting sideways. I try to shoot like a gun. He's fearless out there. You can learn a lot from his confidence and the way he forgets mistakes so quickly."

•On why the team has gotten so hot since a 19-point loss at Ole Miss: "We saw that you can't take anything for granted. You've gotta play for your life every single day. We got a lot tougher mentally after that. I think it taught us a lesson that we carried into practice and games."

COACH JEFF LEBO•On why the team sucked at Ole Miss: "I share in some of that responsibility. We made changes in the way we play. I said so. That was the first game where we played really poorly. I was disappointed in our physical and mental toughness. We addressed it a little bit and talked about it."

•On how important reserve center Brendan Knox has become: "(Korvotney) Barber is more productive when he's playing 30 minutes per game. We like to keep him fresh. We may play him and Knox together against the bigger teams like Alabama."

3.01.2009

Auburn women are SEC champions

There you have it.

Here is some reaction from the principles involved with today's big game.

NELL FORTNER, The Auburn Head CoachOn the seniors: "The most emotional thing for me today was that last timeout under the 4:00 mark at the end of the game. I was just sitting there looking at all them. It was very emotional. That's where it became very overwhelming to me of exactly what was going on. We're going to win this game and these seniors are going to go out having done that. They accomplished what we set out to accomplish … in one area. Now it's on to the next."

TOM COLLEN, The Arkansas Head CoachOn the Tigers: “I just think we ran into a buzz saw. They’re the SEC Champs. They deserve to be. They’re the best team in our conference right now and you’ve got to give them all the credit in the world.”

DEWANNA BONNER, The Auburn All-Conference Guard/ForwardOn if Auburn is deserving of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament: "I think it would be nice. If you win the SEC Tournament you don’t have to worry about being in somebody else’s hands. You can handle it yourself. But I don’t think it’s a must. I think we’re right there with Maryland, maybe."

WHITNEY BODDIE, The Auburn Point GuardOn how Auburn's win enhances the team's post-season worthiness: "It puts us in a good position because we're the No. 1 seed outright. It's going to be competitive no matter who we play, but we're not really worried about the competition. We're just trying to take care of business. We have bigger things to come. This is good for right now, today we're going to celebrate and do it big, but after that, it's over. We've got bigger things ahead of us."

THIRD TO @ 7:45, 2nd halfAuburn leads, 77-48. Sherell Hobbs is the only starter still in the game. It's one of those days. This is Auburn's first blow-out win since the Tennessee game. Less drama makes Fortner happy, I'm sure.

FIRST TO @ 13:54, 2nd halfAuburn leads, 64-44. Fortner had to call a timeout early after Arkansas built a 7-0 run. Then the Tigers responded with a six-point surge.

Notable halftime notes:Sherell Hobbs has 16 points.Auburn shot 52.5 percent.Bonner is back from her "injury".Neither team hit a three-point shot.

This is your halftime entertainment. Dude in the middle is real. He has two puppets in front and two behind that "follow" his every move. Pretty clever.

HALFTIMEAuburn leads, 54-32. It's a bludgeoning.

FOURTH TO @ 2:42, 1st halfAuburn leads, 46-26. DeWanna Bonner went down with a knee injury around the six-minute mark. She hasn't returned, but she's on the sideline. Everything seems OK. Auburn is just rollin' along. I bet they're shooting 55% or better.

THIRD TO @ 7:28, 1st halfAuburn leads, 35-22. Arkansas just seems confused on defense in general. They're not keeping up with people ... particularly Hobbs, who is killing them along the baseline. Over and over. The Tigers are on pace to score 100 points.

SECOND TO @ 11:56, 1st halfAuburn leads, 26-14. The Tigers have scored on each possession since the last update. Buckets are landing from everywhere. I don't think Arkansas has what it takes to guard Boddie, Bonner or Hobbs.

FIRST TO @ 15:58, 1st halfAuburn leads, 11-3. The Tigers are ready to play. They're not shooting all that well per se, but they've already scored twice on turnovers. Arkansas is small.

We're all going to die (it's snowing in Montgomery)

Hey everyone. I wanted to pass along the BIG NEWS that it's snowing in Montgomery. Don't worry about me: We bought five jugs of milk, three loaves of bread and enough propane to get us through May.

This is the first snow I've seen here since Easter of ... 2005?

The final game of the Auburn-FSU baseball series has been canceled ... due to snow. Seriously.

UP NEXT: I'll be BRAVING THE BLIZZARD and covering the Auburn-Arkansas women at 2 p.m. A win there (and possibly a loss depending on Vanderbilt's day) secures the Tigers' first outright SEC championship since 1989.